Posted by AsiaViews | May 29, 2020 |
FrontierMyanmar-May 27 Labor activists say they are being dragged unjustly before the courts and that factory owners are exploiting the disruption caused by the pandemic to purge union leaders. The COVID-19 pandemic has put one...
Read MorePosted by AsiaViews | May 29, 2020 |
VietnamExpress-May 28 Vietnam on Thursday criticized China’s use of “new technologies” to cultivate vegetables on its Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands as an illegal act. Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Doan Khac Viet said the...
Read MorePosted by AsiaViews | May 28, 2020 |
JakartaGlobe-May 27, 2020 East Java reported yet another highest rise of coronavirus infections compared to other provinces on Wednesday and is getting nearer to Jakarta as the most-affected province. Of 686 new cases...
Read MorePosted by AsiaViews | May 28, 2020 |
Today-May 27 Several trade and industry associations have criticized the calls for Singapore to reduce its reliance on foreign workers, saying that such a move would have a negative impact on the economy. In a flurry of...
Read MorePosted by AsiaViews | May 28, 2020 |
NationThailand-May 28 Foreign nationals who are permanent residents or hold work permits will soon be allowed to return to Thailand, a government official said on Wednesday (May 27), in response to a recent plea from foreigners...
Read More
EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD
Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.
“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”
